Cinder and Emerald waited till they left the shop--and Cinder had purchased shoes just for the discount, even though Emerald had declined it--to start talking about it.
"I remember now, I think he said once he had a cousin," Emerald said. "That had to be her. That's so weird. What a coincidence. When did she fly in?"
"On a broom," Cinder said, but of course she was the last person to judge.
"That must have been so awkward for him," Emerald said. "I thought he'd pretend not to know us, but I guess he's too classy for that. I think I would have.... You're not mad, are you?"
"About...?"
"What she said. Because she's just a snob. I wouldn't take it seriously."
Was she worried Cinder would retaliate?
"I'm not going to worry about what she said. She's clearly been drinking too much shoe polish," Cinder said.
Emerald suddenly stopped short.
Royal and his cousin were sitting at an outdoor cafe, with its own heaters for every table, having coffee, and they'd been hidden from sight by a planter until right after Cinder said that.
Emerald shot her an embarrassed look like "do you think they heard us?"
Cinder decided to act like she'd not said anything.
Royal pretended to be glancing at the menu of drinks.
"I heard that." Vivian looked up at Cinder angrily.
Cinder looked at her like she was a bug. "And?" she said.
Emerald nudged her like "knock it off."
"Where do you work?" Vivian said.
"I'm not going to answer that." Cinder could spot a "speak to your manager" person a mile away.
"Roy." Vivian kicked him. "Do you know?"
"Hmm?" Royal pretended he hadn't been listening. "Oh, if you want to we can go."
"Not go, you nitwit, her. Where does she work?" Vivian tugged him.
"I really don't get why it matters," Royal said. "Are you really going to let this ruin your day?"
"She was rude to me. Do something!" Vivian said.
"What am I supposed to do?"
"I don't know--get her fired," Vivian said.
"Are you for real?" Royal said. "Is that something you do?"
"I have before. People have to be taught some respect," Vivian said.
"She sounds just like Weiss used to sound, but like if Weiss actually did something about it," Emerald muttered.
"Atlas snobs," Cinder muttered. "Typical. You can take the elite out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the elite, unfortunately."
"I'm sure if you give her half a chance, you'll see this whole thing was blown out of proportion." Royal switched tactics, talking to Vivian. "Besides, you said you wanted to get to know Sustrai more. This is your chance. You two want to join us?"
"No," Cinder said.
"Maybe we should," Emerald hissed. "If she asks around about you, do you really want someone else who could cause some complaints right now?"
Cinder sighed.
"I don't think the base will care about some snob getting her feelings hurt," she grumbled in a low voice.
YOU ARE READING
RWBY Through Worlds (End)
FanfictionCouldn't fit it all in one book so this is the end of the story. Sit tight, it's a real ride. After the author's note, you'll see I wrote an epilogue in the form of a bonus book of extra stuff I wanted to see more of and couldn't fit in the main boo...
